Page 86 of Unleashed

“Doubtful we’ll be in any condition to climb when we get to it,” Vortok said. He could only just make out the stone through the haze of distance and sprouts of vegetation, but he trusted Aduun’s judgment.

“It might be the last one,” Nina said. She stood with a hand over her eyes, shielding them from the overhead light. “We’reclose.”

Vortok’s steps felt a little lighter when they continued, as though he were sped on by the thought of getting out of this hot, wet, nightmarish place. It didn’t prevent him from sinking in the muck — that would’ve been too much to ask — but it wassomething.

He’d be fine so long as he didn’t try to guess what awaited beyond the cliff.

The rockface soon came into focus; it looked almost exactly like the cliffside in the forest, and that struck Vortok like a blow. What if they’d somehow come back to where they began? It made sense when he recalled the floodwaters that had swept between the trees, but it was unlikely; the trees were too different here, the land too uneven. This couldn’t be the same place.

When they finally reached the cliff, Vortok was grateful to find a narrow strip of dry ground between it and the water. He set the bags down and returned to the water to scrub the muck from his fur. The others followed his example, and Nina drifted between them, helping to clean places they couldn’t reach.

Back on land, they ate the last of their soggy meat — it wasn’t likely to keep for much longer, so there seemed little sense in saving it — and surveyed the rock before them. Vortok tilted his head back. The cliff went up and up, at least as high as the first they’d climbed, tall enough that it might as well have been holding up the sky.

But that isnotthe sky, he reminded himself.

“The calls are coming from somewhere on the other side,” Nina said. She was looking up at the cliff with doubt etched on her face.

Aduun released a heavy breath. “Then we will have to climb it.”

“But this looks even bigger than the first one.” A hint of fear colored Nina’s voice.

“Something is…off,” Balir said, stepping forward. He placed his hand on the stone and angled his face toward the sky, releasing a series of clicks from his throat. “Ithinkthere is stone directly overhead, but it is too high for me to tell.”

“There’s been stone over our heads the entire time we’ve been down here,” Vortok said. “Not seeing it didn’t mean it wasn’t there.”

“This is the first time I’ve been able to detect it. That means it is closer than it’s been before.” Balir turned to the others. “It is the same as when we first stepped into the forest.Youcould not see the stone behind us once we emerged from the tunnel, but I could still sense it. I will climb this and find out for sure…but I do not believe we can go over this barrier.”

Nina looked from Balir to the top of the cliff, and her face paled. “Be careful, Balir.”

“I will.”

Vortok, Nina, and Aduun backed away from the cliffside as Balir scaled it. Despite his lack of sight, Balir moved with surprising surety over the rocks, making Vortok feel all the clumsier for his big, clumsy hands and unyielding hooves. Something brushed against his hand. He glanced down to see Nina beside him, watching Balir with her head tilted back and her lips pressed in a tight line. She squeezed Vortok’s hand. He drew comfort from her presence at his side.

Balir stopped around three-fourths of the way to the top. Gripping the rock with one hand, he reached over his head and swung his palm upward.

Vortok heard the slap of flesh against stone from the ground.

Balir remained in place for several moments, feeling around with his extended hand, turning his head from side to side, before climbing back down. Tension Vortok hadn’t realized he’d been carrying eased when Balir set foot on the ground.

“We cannot move past that point,” he said as he turned to face the others. “The ceiling goes on in either direction for as far as I can detect.”

“There has to be an opening down here then,” Nina said. “A tunnel or something. We just need to keep moving.”

“Which way do we go?” Aduun asked, attention on her.

Vortok looked to either side, sniffing the air. He concentrated. The scents of the swamp were numerous and layered, all with an undercurrent of rot which made it difficult to pluck any individual smells from their midst. Were anything out of the ordinary present — not thatanythinghere was ordinary to him — it would serve as a good starting point.

“We can go left first,” Nina said. “If we come to a dead end, we can backtrack and hope for passage on the other side.”

“There’s little else we can do,” Aduun said. “Standing here and wondering about it will only waste time.”

Vortok lifted a large branch from the ground and carried it to the spot they were standing. He jabbed the thicker, broken end of the branch into the dirt and forced it down, sinking its base low. “A marker to guide us,” he said.

They walked in the direction Nina had suggested. Balir continued clicking, his attention often directed at the cliffside, undoubtedly trying to locate any openings along the way. The narrow strip of land persisted at the base of the rock face until the stone abruptly veered right, opening on a wide section of swamp. They told Balir, and he shook his head. When he extended his hand into the seemingly empty air, his palm hitsomething.

Vortok reached forward. His hand touched hard, rough stone, but his eyes could not see it. The disconnect between hand and eye sparked an uneasy feeling within him. He should’ve been used to Kelsharn’s tricks by now, but such things seemed to defy what was natural on such a deep level that Vortok couldn’t shake thewrongnessof them.

“If the stone is no longer visible, we may well have come too far,” Balir said.

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